Can you top this freak little ‘n’ large pike catch?

The greedy and stubborn 21 lb predator had grabbed a jack pike but Nathan never thought it would hang on long enough for him to ‘chin’ the pair in one go.

The taxi driver, from Dorchester, Dorset, who has notched three river 30s, explained: “You sometimes think you’ve seen it all – and then something else happens.

“I thought the jack was just ‘a blank saver’ when suddenly from nowhere another pike ten times as big grabbed it across the back, violently breaking the surface and causing my rod to slam over before powering off with it out towards the river.

Brown trouser moment

“To see such a violent take 3 ft in front of me nearly caused me to have a coronary and, dare I say, a ‘brown trouser’ moment.

“I locked it up expecting the resistance would force the bigger pike to let go but to my amazement she didn’t and I turned her and she headed back in to within 2 ft from the bank and just sat there like a crocodile holding the poor jack firmly as if to say ‘now what are you going to do – this is mine!’

“I didn’t know what to do as I knew she wasn’t hooked but my landing net was out of reach and I couldn’t risk putting the rod down as even if the bale arm was off she could reach the snags with a blink of my eye.

Specimen was chinned out

“There was only one option and that was to chin her out. Of course that surely would never happen as she would automatically let go of the jack as soon as I got near her – wouldn’t she?

“Steering her as close to the margin as I could I put my hand in the water and slowly and extremely gently slid it up her flank till I reached the gill plate – so far so good. She didn’t even move or show any sign of spooking.

“My confidence grew so I went for it and chinned her with a firm grip and lifted her completely out of the water. All the time I was waiting for her to go ballistic but it didn’t happen, even as I carried her over to my gear,” added Nathan.

The freak catch happened in a slack margin of the river near his home, offering a small dead roach on a single size 4 Kodex treble on a wire trace.

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